Failing Bank Acquisition Fairness Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Failing Bank Acquisition Fairness Act
This bill tightens restrictions on certain waivers granted by federal financial regulators to companies that acquire insured depository institutions. Under current law, a regulator may not approve an acquisition if it would result in an institution exceeding a set concentration limit (i.e., controlling more than 10% of total insured U.S. deposits). This may be waived if one or more of the institutions involved is in default or in danger of default or if the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is providing certain assistance.
In addition to these requirements, the bill requires the regulator to determine that (1) the merger is necessary to prevent significant economic disruption or financial instability, and (2) FDIC has not received a qualified bid from a company not subject to this concentration limit.
The bill also provides capitalization and management standards for qualified bids.
Regulators that waive these concentration limits must report to Congress on the circumstances and justification of the waiver.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on December 10, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 15, 2026: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Stephen Lynch (D-MA) introduced it on December 10, 2025, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 10, 2025, 274 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 57 days ago, on July 15, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers